[Mr Sparkle]

Hi guys been window cleaning now for years and years and are thinking of knocking it on the head and just concentrating on gutter and faschia cleaning as i think there is a lot more money in this, for example i charge on average 60 pound to clean gutters and faschias and do it in roughley 1h 30 mins, where as window cleaning your driving from one job to the other all day long not earning a great deal.
Do any of you guys just do gutter cleaning?

[monkeyboy950]

Was thinking of maybe doing more gutter cleans as well as my windows,just now I just pass all gutter cleans onto my bro in law,but he is on holiday and the last 2weeks I have knocked back £120 worth of work,thinking of getting a gutter vac are they worth it

[Slash]

Hi guys been window cleaning now for years and years and are thinking of knocking it on the head and just concentrating on gutter and faschia cleaning as i think there is a lot more money in this, for example i charge on average 60 pound to clean gutters and faschias and do it in roughley 1h 30 mins, where as window cleaning your driving from one job to the other all day long not earning a great deal.
Do any of you guys just do gutter cleaning?

Driving from one job to another all day long and not earning a great deal window cleaning!!!!!!!!!!
You need to put your prices up BIGTIME,window cleaning is a regular service unlike gutter cleaning,I do my gutter and facias once a year and my windows every four weeks.
I take it you quote very little for window cleaning,what you earn cleaning gutters I earn cleaning windows so no offense but put your prices up!

[Tom White]

I also doubt there's a big year round demand for gutter cleaning too.  I know on the lead up to Christmas, it's one of my busiest periods with many people wanting insides cleaned; or just wanting us to clean prior to the day.

I can imagine around this time of year you'll be quiet with gutter cleaning.

[mick hay]

This is something ive thought about for a couple of years. I come from a sales background, including running canvassing teams. I think it's an untapped market. I knocked 1 evening, and got 5 jobs all priced £50 upwards, so not cheap.

Now that there are cheaper alternative gutter vacs now, I think it may be time to give it a go!

Couple of good canvassers, and you should be well away!!!

[Perfect Windows]

If I had the time to set it up, I'd canvass armed with a camera on a pole.

Offer to look at their gutters for them.  Show them the video and either:

1. Tell them they need doing - they'll be able to see and will feel obliged to let you do it, or

2. Tell them they'll probably be fine for another year.  If they want you to come along and survey next year, the check will be a tenner and the deal will be the same.

So, you'll have customers convinced they need doing, or potential customers who may buy into a five minute check once a year for a tenner with the occasional gutter job coming out of it.  They'll trust you absolutely because you told them the truth on the first visit.

I'm sure there are holes in my thinking (there normally are) but it might be an idea, at least.

Vin

[GB Window Cleaning]

If I had the time to set it up, I'd canvass armed with a camera on a pole.

Offer to look at their gutters for them.  Show them the video and either:

1. Tell them they need doing - they'll be able to see and will feel obliged to let you do it, or

2. Tell them they'll probably be fine for another year.  If they want you to come along and survey next year, the check will be a tenner and the deal will be the same.

So, you'll have customers convinced they need doing, or potential customers who may buy into a five minute check once a year for a tenner with the occasional gutter job coming out of it.  They'll trust you absolutely because you told them the truth on the first visit.

I'm sure there are holes in my thinking (there normally are) but it might be an idea, at least.

Vin

i like that idea alot perfect!

[Wc Solutions]

If I had the time to set it up, I'd canvass armed with a camera on a pole.

Offer to look at their gutters for them.  Show them the video and either:

1. Tell them they need doing - they'll be able to see and will feel obliged to let you do it, or

2. Tell them they'll probably be fine for another year.  If they want you to come along and survey next year, the check will be a tenner and the deal will be the same.

So, you'll have customers convinced they need doing, or potential customers who may buy into a five minute check once a year for a tenner with the occasional gutter job coming out of it.  They'll trust you absolutely because you told them the truth on the first visit.

I'm sure there are holes in my thinking (there normally are) but it might be an idea, at least.

Vin

i like that idea alot perfect!

we do a service called gutter health check.

basically its like the above post - works well and only takes a few mins to go round and check front,back and down pipes.

we then price up what needs doing or not in some cases.

[P @ F]

I would be wary of the gutter only market , there was a chap here in Plymouth that did this type of work , but he did have the idea to do windows aswell , lucky he did as he has not long sold up , it wasnt that his biz failed but the gutter side of things proved more of a pain , he got the custies on a yearly clean basis , but upon the second visit was being turned away a fair bit of the time , lucky he had the windows to fall back on as the other work demanded lots of advertising and knocking to keep it together.
He only sold in the end due to his hunt for a new house was made harder by the fact he was only a couple of years into being self employed .
Ask SAJ , HE GOT A BARGAIN OUT OF IT , WELL HIS DAD DID , STU'S STILL GOT THE SHED 

Rich

[mick hay]

i think, to make it a stand alone, business, you cant rely on repeats. its new business all the time, and repeats as and when. There are plenty out there who make a good living out of gutters only!

[marcus hopkins]

gutter vac are they worth it

I was going to take gutter cleaning a little more seriously so bought a streamvac from streamline, IT GOT RETURNED AS NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE
The pole broke within minutes of using.

[sf]

Best and quickest way to clean gutters is by hand.Why buy a gutter vac.From what iv seen gutter vacs are a waste of money.

[dazmond]

i prefer regular maintenance window cleaning.if you build up lots of compact window cleaning and good priced stand alone accounts coupled with a few commercial then you have a good regular income all year round.

i do add on jobs like conny roof/fascia/soffit cleaning for existing customers usually annually in the spring and summer months for extra income but gutter cleaning i give a wide berth as i hate getting the ladders out for these jobs.it can be dangerous work if you dont have a gutter vac.

i dont need to advertise as work comes to me through referrals and recomendations all the time throughout the year.no hassle i just get on with what i do best.cleaning windows.on some commercial work im earning £50-£60 an hour and £25-£35 on my domestic stuff so im well happy with what i earn.

its took years to build a good solid round and by the sounds of it mate you should have a good round by now.

ive got to say wfp has totally transformed my business and working day and now i have a van mount there is no looking back for me.


regards

dazmond

[d s windowcleaning]

£60 for gutters & fascias cleaned anyone is welcome to do mine for that price .
a average sized 3 bed semi you should be looking at £135 if you cant achive this on gutter cleans theres something wrong .

[Smudger]

gutters on their own may eventually be a stand alone biz - but would take years to build up as repeat customers wont be back for approx 2 years - some do opt for a reg yearly clean ( very few)

you can get great rates for 3 storey/commercial/house with extensions or conny's where guy's with ladders cant get
however bread and butter stuff is much lower pricing.

i have canvassed several times for gutter clearing with limited results - either don't care, it's rented (private or council) or cant/wont afford to pay for it, however if the cust'y comes to you via ad's or current w/clean it's an easy sell and a cast iron job !

as for cleaning off a ladder vs gutter vac - the vac wins hands down - safety first! and then actual clearing out of the gutter - a vac removes everything - not just the lumps to can see.  - we have done several jobs only a few weeks after the customers 'mate' of windy cleared them by hand only to have a jungle growing again.


gutter clearing is a great add-on

Darran

[Smudger]

DS - well said ! 

Darran

[Scoop]

Like Mick Hay I think it is an untapped market. This is a service that almost every property needs every 12-24 months and I estimate the potential spend per gutter clean is around 50% of the yearly window cleaning bill.

I started wheelie bin cleaning 18 months ago and I've built up a modest round. But the agony for me was being unable to work until the bins are emptied - in some places today that was 3pm plus having busy days mixed with very poor ones (I know that you WC guys don't have these problems). I had to find something extra that would fit in with my budget, my van and the needs of the town. I settled on gutter cleaning and bought a guttervac - alu poles with vac and a small generator.

I have been quite frankly delighted with it. Work isn't flooding in but it's steady (now about 3-4 a week) and there is really nobody else doing it (with any kind of dedication) in my one horse town. Jobs range from 60 min terrace house for £40 up to £200 for country house last Saturday which took me 4 hours.

It's bloody hard work. The lactic acid really builds up in your arms but then I'm sure most of you would tell me to shut up and enjoy it. I know that WFP is no picnic. But it's very satisfying too, especially when you harvest a huge weed or clump of moss.

At the end of the day I suppose it depends on your motivation. If you are a prosperous WC with plenty of work then gutter cleaning is probably not an attractive add-on. But I'm convinced of this - gutter cleaning has been much-neglected in this country over the recent past, not only by householders but by local authorities, landlords and private companies. In the good old days the man of the house would go up the ladder and do it himself, OR the WC would do it once a year for him. Now that most WC are on WFP the gutters aren't getting cleaned and the Barcardi Breezer generation haven't yet realised that it needs doing - otherwise the house gets damaged (90% of my customers are over 50).

I'm fairly hopeful that this will have the makings of a good business. As far as I can tell this is the quiet season but even in the quiet season there is business to be had (it should be an all year round thing really. The idea of doing it only in Autumn is daft because most houses aren't under a tree.)

A young lady booked me the other day. The telephone conversation went along the lines of ;

"This is an emergency. I need my gutters cleaned"

"Why? Are they overflowing"

"Yes! Water is pouring over the gutter next to my bedroom window."

"And naturally you're worried about the damage it could be doing to the house?"

"NO. IT'S STOPPING ME GETTING TO SLEEP!"

'nuff said  

[Pittmonkey]

A young lady booked me the other day. The telephone conversation went along the lines of ;

"This is an emergency. I need my gutters cleaned"

"Why? Are they overflowing"

"Yes! Water is pouring over the gutter next to my bedroom window."

"And naturally you're worried about the damage it could be doing to the house?"

"NO. IT'S STOPPING ME GETTING TO SLEEP!"

'nuff said  

Watched "Help! My House Is Falling Down" with Sarah Beeny on CH4 the other day and it had a strong emphasis on keeping your gutters maintained. The people in the program were pretty clueless as with a lot of today "Barcardi Breezer generation" 

Today they have gardeners, window cleaners, ironing service, dog walking service, domestic cleaners, oven cleaner, carpet cleaners, posh car wash etc etc, all so they can sit on their arse when they get home from work. Well obviously there's nothing wrong with that. ( I would do the same if I had enough cash )

The point being, today's economy is largely  built on the service industries and marketed properly almost anything can be made into a viable business. There is enough demand for Gutter Cleaning service all year round, not just autumn and spring.

Mick Hay and I had a chat about it a while ago. It's been on my back burner for a while now. I need a new challenge me thinks.